Overview
- An international team reports 55‑million‑year‑old eggshells from Murgon, Queensland, formally naming the new oospecies Wakkaoolithus godthelpi.
- Optical and electron microscopy with geochemical analysis links the fragments to extinct mekosuchine crocodiles from the Early Eocene.
- The evidence indicates nests on the margins of a fluctuating lake, revealing reproductive strategies adapted to drying cycles.
- The study supports interpretations that some mekosuchines were terrestrial or semi‑arboreal “drop crocs” that ambushed prey from trees.
- Published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the work notes mekosuchines dominated inland waters long before modern crocs arrived about 3.8 million years ago.